Longevity has ensured that nobody comes close to the greatest fast bowler of them all
When Jimmy Anderson strode through the hotel doors with Mark Wood and walked towards the pool in Visakhapatnam, it was not immediately obvious which of the fast bowlers was nearing retirement.
Making their way to a suitable spot to lay their towels, Anderson looked the inverse of his near 42 years. In other words, 24.
The tall, lithe frame carried not an inch of fat and the haircut, supported by high-end shades, was Hollywood sharp. He had not been selected for the first
Test in Hyderabad, the only Test England won in the five-match series against India, but he was the pick of the bowlers by some distance in the second and took his 700th Test wicket in the fifth to extend his already record total for a seam bowler. Nine more in this six-Test summer will leave him second only to Muttiah Muralitharan in the all-time list. Since Murali registered 800 victims he is probably safe from the Burnley Express.
Though this is to be Anderson’s last summer as a Test cricketer, his departure is based not so much on performance but the probability that even he cannot continue to defy gravity. Anderson will be 43 by the time of the next Ashes series. Coach Brendon McCullum reasoned that by then England are unlikely to be punching holes in Australia with a bowler three months older than him. McCullum made the trip from his home in New Zealand to deliver the news personally, the ultimate mark of respect for one of the game’s greats.
Anderson’s genius was slow to emerge. His unorthodox biomechanics that led to an unusual head position at the point of delivery was the cause of much consternation for coaches who unsuccessfully sought to realign his body at the crease. The textbook was never Anderson’s friend. He gave up trying to be perfect and settled instead for the role of anti-hero, an idiosyncratic whisp of a lad who simply delighted in the joys of running in.
Despite being the victim of extreme handsomeness, as England teammate Graeme Swann expressed it, Anderson rejected the David Beckham route and contented himself with superstardom on the pitch. Among his finest performances you would have to include his 11-wicket haul against Pakistan at Nottingham in 2010, when the visitors were skittled for just 80 in the second innings, the utterly unplayable Anderson sending six of them back. His 6 for 47 in 14.4 overs against Australia during the 2015 Ashes at Edgbaston was a performance that set to the tone for a series victory.
Australia and Trent Bridge brought the best out of him.
Two years earlier he took the wicket of Brad Haddin to secure victory in the opening Test of a series England would win 3-0.
The match was remembered for Stuart Broad’s non-walking to a claimed catch, but Anderson was the star turn.
To get a sense of Anderson’s achievement we need only compare his stats to other masters of his craft. Other than Broad with 604 wickets, none comes close to Anderson’s tally. Glenn McGrath and Courtney Walsh complete the only four to have taken 500 plus. The next best is Dale Steyn on 439. The next Englishman after Broad is IT Botham on 383. Mind you, he could bat a bit.
The reason for Anderson’s fecundity is his longevity. That is the wonder of the man, given he suffered with back issues in his youth, missing the best part of 2006 with a stress fracture. To give you some idea of the hardships involved, I once bowled a four-over spell in my twenties and could hardly breathe without wincing for a week, such was the ruin that I had visited upon my rib cage.
And I was a trundling in off 10 paces in the first match of the season. It was of no great standard but the physical contortions were the same.
How many of the six Tests, split evenly between West Indies and Sri Lanka, Anderson will play this summer is not clear. However, since he was the outstanding quick three months ago in India, he will have his hand up to start, especially in the penultimate match of the summer against Sri Lanka at his home ground, Old Trafford. Bring a hanky. Just in case.
Despite being the victim of extreme handsomeness, Anderson rejected the David Beckham route